[Q1] NXT this week has Richie Steamboat against Kassius Ohno, based on Steamboat saving Jake Carter from a post-match beating from Ohno.

1 - RICHIE STEAMBOAT vs. KASSIUS OHNO

Pre-match, the vocal males cheer on Ohno while one lonely child chants "Richie!" Steamboat's armdrags and headlocks annoy Ohno, but Steamboat continues to dominate. Ohno can't get any kind of offense going, but a thumb to the eye gets him some room, to the referee's displeasure. The argument with the referee gives Steamboat time to recover and go back on the attack, so Ohno rakes the eyes again. The referee disqualifies Ohno.

WINNER: Richie Steamboat in 2:45. I didn't like what little of this match I saw, other than Ohno's very comical pleas with the referee after the first eye poke. It was a long series of head takedowns and armdrags and chops. Ohno's character is confusing.

Post-match, as Steamboat still reels, Ohno kicks him out of the ring and drops him on the guardrail. Ohno continues his assault and a second referee comes out to help calm things down. After Ohno leaves, Ricky Steamboat comes into the ring to berate the officials for failing to protect his son.

2 - AUDREY MARIE vs. PAIGE

Marie controls Paige with headlocks as Paige struggles hard to escape. Takedown and they come back to the feet, and Paige eventually escapes. double leg takedown from Marie and they trade hair pulls and roll all over the ring. Marie with a unique move, she scissors Paige and then rolls her in a circle, settling into a pin attempt for two. Paige with a stiff elbow out of the corner to take control. Paige lifts Marie up into a bearhug of sorts and DDTs her for the win.

WINNER: Paige in 2:50. They're trying to turn Paige heel, it seems, and this was not one of her better matches. Audrey Marie demonstrated a few unique moves which I enjoyed, as well as the somewhat prolonged struggle for control at the beginning of the match; while the first match also opened the same way, Paige and Marie had enough movement in their version to make it much more interesting.

Backstage, Ricky Steamboat waves off Briley Pearce to get to see his son, but he encounters Kassius Ohno first. Ohno acts civil, and tells Steamboat that he's glad they met, so he could tell him that his son has little potential and asks if Ricky saw him "hurting and defenseless." They end up pushing each other, and as referees come in to break it up, Ohno shouts, "The dragon is mad, what are you going to do, armdrag me?" That was pretty awesome, and by far the best thing Kassius Ohno has done in NXT so far.

Don't try this at home - Daniel Bryan.

[Q2] "Showtime" Percy Watson his the ring. Where's he been? He's facing Leo Kruger who has a new, militarized or safari look.

3 - PERCY WATSON vs. LEO KRUGER

Kruger mocks Watson by squatting in the middle of the bring, then comes on strong with offense. Double footstomp in the corner gets Kruger two. Watson dodges an elbow drop to get some room, then goes on his old "NXT Redemption" series of moves. Highsman for two, but Watson surprising him and lands a sort of neckbreaker from the win.

WINNER: Leo Kruger in 2:55. Kruger has returned to the style that I thought had promise on the first episode, where he stays very close to his opponent and lands moves very rapidly like he really wants to hurt them. It's better than the more generic style he's been using since then. The change in outfits makes his character a bit less confusing too. A good evolution for Kruger.

Video package on The Usos.

4 - BRODUS CLAY vs. BRIAN COLLINS

Quick squash for Clay.

WINNER: Brodus Clay in 1:09. T'was what t'was.

Post-match, they conjure up a few kids to dance in the ring.

Byron Saxton recaps last week's ambush of The Usos by The Ascension.

The Ascension come out first this week. The Usos seem especially fired up during their entrance.

5 - THE USOS vs. THE ASCENSION - Tag Team match

Jimmy destroys Cameron out of the bell, then Jey and O'Brien are brawling too. They cut to break about a minute in.

[ c - Smackdown World Tour ]

Cameron is getting tag teams in The Uso's corner. The Usos are moving much faster than I have ever seen. Cameron is able to get a blind tag from O'Brien who steamrolls Jimmy. The ascension isolate Jimmy. Jimmy can't get to his corner for a tag. Jimmy almost gets a tag but O'Brien clears Jey off the apron. Double tag and it is Jey wailing on Cameron. Jey keeps O'Brien out of the ring and still stays on top of Cameron. Cameron crotches Jey on the top rope, then lands a running jawbreaker for the win.

WINNERS: The Ascension in 9:00. Very good match. The Ascension know how to make a team beating interesting and look vicious. The Usos did a great job playing up the intensity of the feud and the match, with increased speed and a more brawling style, and no comedy.

[ c - Night of Champions ad ]

Jim Ross is in the ring to interview Seth Rollins. The NXT Champ comes out wearing pants, but no shirt. In the ring, he puts on a shirt. J.R, congratulates him on a great match, and asks him how he got through the back injury. Rollins said that there are always obstacles in the way. He says that he used to be called a "born loser" every day, so when Jindal Mahal called him that, he couldn't be stopped. Ross asks him what it is like to now be the one everyone is coming after. Rollins says that he is a fighting champion and he's willing to take on all comers, but they will all get blacked out.

Nice, simple segment to give Rollins a chance to introduce himself as the champion.

Final Reax: Hard to follow last week's show, but this was still a solid outing. I didn't care for the first match too much, but Ohno's backstage segment with Ricky Steamboat was great. The feud between The Ascension and The Usos feels like it has a lot of legs and some room to grow too. Overall, I'll take an hour of NXT right now over an hour of Raw.

He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)

REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD

PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.

Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.

The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...